Hey everyone. As I’ve mentioned before, I have been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I’m being set apart tomorrow, and from then on I will no longer be active on Letterboxd. I’ll still keep my page up so that people can still read my reviews if they wish. Maybe I’ll come back once my mission is over, maybe not. I’m grateful to everyone who supported me all this time I’ve been…

My journey with Howl’s Moving Castle has been like steadily climbing a mountain. The first two times, I thought it was confusing and overrated. It wasn’t until my third watch that I finally raised my score from a 6/10 to an 8/10. By that time, I got more of a bird’s-eye view of the film and had a better grasp over some of its more complex elements. Three more watches later, after seeing it twice more in theaters, reading the…

A month ago from yesterday, my grandpa passed away suddenly. Once the shock was over, I had plenty of time to process my emotions. There were a lot of them: grief, sadness (mainly for my dad more than myself), but chief among them was regret.

A few months before his passing, I got into a lengthy conversation in which he basically outlined his political beliefs. He wasn’t necessarily a full-on Trump supporter, but he had strong negative opinions towards the…

“And it felt just like the start of a story…”

Every time I rewatch Whisper of the Heart, I fear that it won’t leave the same impact that it did in the past. Well, not only was I wrong once again, but it actually hit harder than ever.

The first reason is reflected in Shizuku’s decision to prioritize writing her novel. A few weeks ago, I dropped my software development courses. After nearly a year, I realized that my heart…